The Shark Tank

Google has recently rolled out several new features on their Maps Platform designed to further integrate one’s business with Google Maps APIs. Such additions include Reserve, Locator Plus, an embedded store location tool, and a store locator analytics dashboard.

How These New Tools Benefit You and Your Customers

The Reserve tool will appear when an interested customer searches for a service nearby. When Google returns the list of nearby companies, it will also include an easy-access button on participating businesses that allows users to book an appointment. This can be done without even visiting the actual business’s site, making connecting users to services much easier and faster.

The Locator Plus tool allows details like operating hours and contact information to be easily imported into their Google Business Profile. Furthermore, the embedded store locator feature allows businesses to manage their store locator through Google Maps, leading to quicker updates.

Lastly, the new analytics dashboard helps companies better understand the impacts of integrating Google into their site. These metrics will be measured and displayed in the Google Maps Platform section of the Google Cloud. Some of the metrics include engagement rates, website interactions, website views, and other key data points that may be helpful to your business. This information allows individuals and businesses to measure their performance weekly or monthly to keep up with their goals. It also provides them with valuable insight regarding their performance metrics compared to their competitors.

How These Features May Increase Your Reliance on Google

Although these features support a company’s online presence and connect end-users to services, there may be potential drawbacks to this deepened integration. This level of integration pumps data into Google, which can make a business rely on Google for the management and usage of these features. By using these features regularly and having frequent clients become used to them, it may be hard to stop using them. This means that it will be challenging to switch to a better alternative when there are issues with these tools. Despite these drawbacks, when utilized correctly these services can be extremely valuable for businesses of all sizes to oversee and measure their presence in the local community.

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